


all the things you are

by emocean_is_trash



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bumbleby Big Bang 2020, F/F, Fluff with a side of angst, Jazz AU, Mention of Canonical Character Death, Minor Violence, mention of trauma, nobody likes bullies, soulmates bc when are they not?, they're idiots and they're pining for each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27553381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emocean_is_trash/pseuds/emocean_is_trash
Summary: When Blake Belladonna moves to Vale and starts attending Beacon Academy, she expects another lonely year of tedious studying and a lack of friends. That is, until she comes face to face with Yang Xiao Long; the ill-famed delinquent who screams danger but in all the right ways.Through a series of improvised drum fills and complex rhythms, Yang introduces Blake to the world of jazz alongside a mutual appreciation for music. With Yang’s exceptional drumming chops and Blake’s background in classical piano, the two of them quickly form an unbreakable bond of friendship that could potentially lead to something more.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46
Collections: Bumbleby Big Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is my addition to the bumbleby big bang!
> 
> it sure has been a while since i've posted something huh? unfortunately this fic didn't turn out as high quality as i would've liked, but i wouldn't take any of this back. i'll probably go back and edit this at some point, so be on the look out for that! it was a huge challenge to finish an entire fic to completion, and i'm proud of what i accomplished despite the numerous obstacles i stumbled over. i had an absolute blast working on a fic like this, especially with my own background in music and getting to use that in something i've written.
> 
> the lovely artist i was paired with is Sympetali! i had a pleasure being paired up with her. please send her some love and support for all of the work she put into this! you can find her art for this project here:
> 
> https://sympetali.tumblr.com/post/634739709885710336/bumbleby-big-bang-2020-here-is-my-finished-piece
> 
> i also made a spotify playlist for all of the songs featured in this work! you can find that here:
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/23BbakDXaZWFZH400ZU5et?si=o2jg38FJQni2GvELCDhq5Q
> 
> please go and check out the other authors and artists’ stories for this event, everyone has put in a tremendous amount of effort that deserves to be recognized <3
> 
> and one last thank you to all of the members of the bbb for constantly supporting me and believing in me when even i myself couldn't. i wouldn't have finished this without you guys 💜💛

Blake walked into her new school feeling quite melancholic. A new building with new people in a new location. Nothing was going to be different though. She would stay a few years until her parents had some other new business deal and they would be gone in an instant. There was no point in even forming relationships, she thought. Apparently she thought too hard, seeing as she had crashed into another student.

“Haha, sorry!” Blake mumbled, momentarily panicking when she noticed the deep scowl and bright red hair of the student she had bumped into. She bent down at the waist to help the boy pick up the books he had dropped after the collision, shoving the materials into his arms and running off. Surely this would just be another face she’d never see again come a few years. 

Scanning the doorways for her class number, Blake hurriedly walked through the hallways and finally arrived at her first class of the day, the dreaded homeroom. It was the one class where she was forced to interact with other students. At least in her academic courses she could keep to herself, but not in homeroom. Checking the time on her phone to see that she was ten minutes early, Blake took a deep breath and grounded herself, walking into the classroom with a sort of newfound confidence in her step. There were only two other students in the room at that moment, one of which was studying while the other talked eagerly into her scroll about breakfast foods. Blake walked purposefully over to the teacher who was sitting at their desk and held out her hand to shake.

“Hello Mr. Oobleck. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Ah yes! You must be the transfer student I heard about. Miss Belladonna isn’t it?” Bartholomew spoke with a strong conviction despite his rapid pace of speech. Blake nodded and he grabbed her outstretched hand and shook it wildly. 

“Welcome to Beacon Academy! I hope you’re finding everything to be satisfactory so far.” 

“Thank you Mister. Everything is still a bit overwhelming but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it all soon.” Blake said with a small smile.

“I have no doubts that you will.” Bartholomew smiled and took a sip from his thermos which appeared to have coffee in it. “Oh, and Miss Belladonna?” Bartholomew asked as Blake paused and turned back to face him after starting to move towards a nearby desk.

“Yes?”

“It’s Doctor.” Bartholomew said with a wink. Blake chuckled and adjusted her bag over her shoulder, finding a desk in the back of the room and setting her things down beside it before sitting in the chair. She unzipped her backpack and pulled out the book she was currently reading, opening it to where she left off and placing the bookmark on her desk. She would rather spend her few minutes of freedom doing something she enjoyed instead of thinking about the impression she would make on the other students around her. Not that it even mattered. This was only temporary. 

As the minutes ticked by, more and more students flooded into the classroom and began to talk with one another. Blake continued to occupy herself with her book until the bell signalling for class finally rang. Dr. Oobleck immediately cleared his throat and stood up from his desk, moving to stand in front of the whiteboard. He began speaking before the class even started to quiet down.

“Hello class. Welcome back to civilization. I’m sure that you are all aware that as third years, this is going to be your toughest year yet. This is when you begin to determine your future. That being said, homeroom is about making connections with your peers and using this time wisely.” Bartholomew continued to ramble, pacing back and forth while taking sips from his thermos at random intervals. The class finally settled down after he had been speaking for a few sentences, and yet Blake was pretty sure that she had been the only one who had caught everything he said. Her book had been in her bag ever since the bell rang and her attention was solely on the professor in front of her. 

“Ah yes! I almost forgot. We have a transfer student from Menagerie. Miss Belladonna, would you care to introduce yourself?” The students around her began to murmur to themselves out of curiosity while Blake sighed and stood up, gliding to the front of the classroom to address all of her classmates. She had done this so many times before that it was practically second nature at this point.

“Hi, I’m Blake. It’s nice to meet you all. I hope that we can all get to know each other over these next two years.” Blake recited from memory, having written out her introduction speech a few times when she was younger back when her anxiety heavily affected her meeting so many new people. After the first three or so times, she no longer had nerves about the situation. She knew that it was a waste to be worrying about that anyway, Blake had more important things to do than making friends. 

Blake strode back to her seat and Dr. Oobleck resumed his monologue despite many of the students not bothering to pay attention.

~~~~~~~~~~

As the school day went on, Blake became more and more restless of the constant crowds of students flooding each and every hallway between classes. Her breaking point finally happened when all of the students of her class year were required to go to a mandatory assembly in the gymnasium. 

“A warm welcome back to school students. I’m Mr. Ozpin, your principal if you didn’t know and I’m here to wish you a steady course over the next school year. Myself and all of my colleagues are here to support you in any way that you need for this entire year, so please do not hesitate to ask us questions inside and outside of class. Peace and perseverance will continue to push us to strive to do our best, and I expect the best out of each and every one of you.”

As Principal Ozpin continued to ramble on with his speech, all Blake could do was sit there, tapping her leg against the floor, squeezing her right bicep, and clenching her jaw tightly. This remained constant as the vice principal and her class representative (who she now knew to be Penny Polendina) made their own speeches as well. Blake had been hoping that she wouldn’t get overwhelmed this soon, but so much for that. The new environment combined with the mountain of students always around was overwhelming her senses majorly. Her anxiety repeatedly grew more and more, and by the time the assembly was over, Blake was speeding out of there like an olympic sprinter--well at least as fast as she could with the large number of people also leaving the room at the same time as her as well. 

Once the crowds of the halls had cleared enough for Blake to actually make some traction, she walked swiftly over to Penny, the class representative who happened to have homeroom with her, and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

“Excuse me?” Blake meekly spoke while twiddling her thumbs.

“Salutations Blake! Do you need something?” Penny turned around and grinned at Blake, her eyes squeezing shut as she did so.

“Where can I find the roof?” 

Penny opened her eyes with a quizzical look on her face before clearing her throat and clasping her hands together.

“I’m afraid that students are not allowed up on the roof.”

“Could you just tell me where it is? Please?” Blake pleaded as she pinched at her bicep harshly. Penny nodded before pointing a finger towards the direction of the staircase to access the roof. Blake said a quiet “thanks” and briskly marched towards where she had been directed before Penny could even respond to Blake, let alone ask her why she wanted to go there so desperately.

After speeding through the halls and almost tripping numerous times up the stairs, Blake sprinted through a short corridor and came across a steel door marked “Rooftop Entry”. In front of the door was a row of chairs barricading it; some sort of large object that was covered by a white sheet sat on top of them. Curiosity and stubbornness got the better of her as Blake inhaled before ripping the sheet off and placing it to the side to see what was underneath. She was instantly taken by surprise as it appeared to be a girl sleeping peacefully across the chairs (and in the middle of the school day nonetheless) whilst completely blocking where Blake needed to go. 

Blake was taken aback after the sudden realization that this girl was absolutely beautiful. Her long blonde hair framed her face perfectly, with small curls looping near her ears. Freckles littered her slightly pink cheeks and Blake wished more than anything that she could trace them lightly with her fingertips. She was more entranced than she was willing to admit with the way the girl’s chest would slowly rise and fall and her fluttering long eyelashes, which she quickly realized it expressed that she was waking up.

Blake took a cautious step back from the girl who suddenly groaned while her hands rubbed her face. Blake continued to stare the girl down as she stretched her arms behind her head and groaned. In her still half asleep state, the girl reached out and grabbed Blake's hand, whose cheeks quickly turned pink as she gasped. 

“Are you my guardian angel?” 

Blake mumbled a bunch of incoherent words --apparently she could no longer form complete sentences at the sight of a pretty girl-- as she swatted the girl’s hand away and took a step backwards. The girl sat up and rubbed at her eyes once more, before realizing what she had said.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. You good?”

“Yeah I’m okay. You’re blocking the entrance to the roof you know.” Blake gestured to the door marked “Roof Entry” in annoyance.

The girl said nothing while standing up and pushing the chairs to the side, reaching to grab the doorknob, which she shook harshly as the girl proved the door to be locked. 

“Do you have a key?” 

“Does it look like I have a key?” 

Blake shrugged and pinched at her arm again.

“Why do you want a key so badly anyway?” 

“It’s none of your business.”

“Alright alright, no need to get upset. We’ll be able to get up there soon.”

“How can you be so sure? You said you don’t have a key.”

“I _did _have a key until those good for nothing upperclassmen stole it from me. They should be here any second.” the girl stared intensely down the corridor as if expecting to be jumped at any moment. Just as she said it, the supposed upperclassmen walked around the corner, laughing to themselves about something most likely trivial.__

____

____

“Adam. Cinder. Funny seeing you here.” the girl sneered while crossing her arms.

“What do you want Yang? We’ve got shit to do.” Cinder sighed and absentmindedly looked at something on her scroll.

“I want my key back. Now.”

Adam and Cinder looked at each other and began laughing hysterically.

“Oh really? And what are you gonna do about it, Fisticuffs?”

“Good one Cinder.” Adam snarked under his breath. Yang stood there defiantly and gritted her teeth. Adam’s face lit up in recognition of Blake and he immediately grinned, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

“Oh hey, you’re the loser who couldn’t walk straight in the hallway. I guess the two biggest disasters in school were bound to become friends eventually.”

“Excuse me? What did you just call her?” Yang asked with a fire burning in her throat, the smallest spark having instigated a deep anger from within her. Blake stared at her with wide eyes, pondering why exactly this girl named Yang who didn’t even know her was defending her, especially since Blake had this idea in her mind that Yang was not a good person, notable through her ditching class. 

“You heard me, or are you braindead like your mother too?”

Even Cinder looked surprised by that comment. 

“What the fuck are you doing Adam? You got a deathwish or something?” Cinder frantically whispered into Adam’s ear, whose scowl only deepened in annoyance as he stood his ground, affirming that he was not backing down from what he said. Blake could practically see Yang snap, but instead of letting it get the best of her, she took a few deep breaths and cracked her knuckles with a toothy grin. 

“Let’s take this outside.” 

Of course Yang, whatever you wish. We wouldn’t want your little... _friend _to get hurt now would we?” Adam teased while putting an arm around Blake’s shoulder, who immediately flinched away from his touch. Yang quickly shoved his arm away in a fluid motion and stuffed her hands into her pockets, watching as Adam unlocked the door to the roof and then walking up onto it in a lackadaisical manner.__

____

____

“I would like nothing more.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Blake watched intently as Yang stood her ground against her tormentors. She delivered a harsh jab into Adam’s jaw and landed a hefty punch directly in the center of Cinder’s stomach, who winced out in pain and backed away to the edge of the roof. 

The whole debacle strongly reminded Blake of watching a dramatic gangster fight in slow motion. This was especially true with the way the rain was cascading down on Yang’s defined biceps and torso, which were very visible because her dress shirt was almost completely soaked through. Yang shook out her hair which adjusted her now partially unbuttoned dress shirt and then loosened her tie while smirking at Blake, who could only stare at Yang in shock over what had just transpired. Yang slowly stalked over to her while panting heavily, her hands hanging limply at her sides.

“What was that for?”

“You wanted the key didn’t you?”

“W-Well yeah, but you didn’t have to fight them for it!” Blake admitted while staring at the floor. Anything was better than giving Yang what she wanted, which appeared to be attention. After standing there silently for a handful of seconds, Blake looked up and steeled her gaze while her grip tightened on her umbrella. 

“Did you even get the key?”

Yang shrugged and bunched her hands into her pants pockets. After a moment of fidgeting, Yang righteously pulled the key from her pocket and tossed it over to Blake, who caught it and looked at Yang quizzically. 

“I just don’t understand. You don’t even know me. Why would you go to those lengths for a stranger?” 

Yang tightened her tie and grinned, chuckling to herself as she approached Blake.

“I have a feeling we’re going to become close friends, angel. Just you wait.” Yang replied while winking cheekily. Blake’s cheeks flushed as she watched the blonde hold out her hand for Blake to shake. Blake took it reluctantly. As rebellious and out-there as Yang was, Blake was still extremely appreciative for what she did for her. That newfound respect was quickly lost as Yang yanked on her arm sharply, which caused Blake to drop her umbrella. 

“What are you doing?”

“Lighten up! No one’s watching.” 

Blake watched as Yang leaned back screamed at the top of her lungs. Oh what the hell? A little fun couldn’t hurt right? She was already getting drenched by the rain as it is.

Blake took a deep breath and yelled loudly, tons of tension immediately leaving her body. Who knew that screaming her lungs out in the rain could do wonders for Blake’s stress? 

“How do you feel?” Yang asked a few moments later, smiling softly at Blake.

“Much better, actually. Thank you for everything today.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you around...” Yang gazed at her with a slightly tilted head.

“It’s Blake. I’m sure you will.” Blake smiled gratefully before returning inside to head to class.

What a way to start the year.

\---------------------------------------------------------


	2. Chapter 2

Blake didn’t end up getting very far to class because as soon as she turned to leave, Yang groaned loudly in pain and slumped against the wall of the connected building to the roof, grabbing at her side and wincing. Blake rushed over to her and helped her to stand, wrapping her arm around Yang’s shoulders and guiding her to the exit.

“We need to get you to the nurse’s office.”

Yang tried to brush her off with a laugh and a smile.

“Nah I’m totally fine, see? Don’t worry about me.” Yang attempted to walk away on her own, only to put more weight into Blake’s side and need to rely on her more. 

“That’s what I thought.” Blake said with a smile on her face as she helped Yang get to the nurse’s office, Yang being the one to guide her there as Blake still had no idea where most notable buildings are. 

“Oh, I forgot to ask. How long have you been going to this school?” 

“Well I’d say about...four hours give or take? Why do you ask?” Blake replied with a confused look on her face. She thought that it was pretty obvious that she was new but maybe some people didn’t know.

“Okay great, it’s nice to see a new face around here. Everyone at this school has been together since kindergarten. Plus, I was sure that I would’ve remembered a gorgeous face such as your own if you hadn’t been. I’m Yang by the way. I don’t think I ever formally introduced myself.” Yang said with a wink, causing Blake’s face to turn red as she continued to walk slowly down the now empty hallways with Yang, most students having been at lunch and others not being allowed to loiter.

“Well it’s nice to formally meet you Yang. I’m Blake, but my usual alias is the new kid.” Blake said with a chuckle, finally separating from Yang since they had now arrived at the nurse’s office and Yang needed to sit down on the bed. The nurse turned and mockingly frowned at Yang before smiling at Blake and ushering her to sit down in the nearby chair.

“Let me guess, another fight?” The nurse said sarcastically as she handed Yang a few ice packs to put on her face and stomach, a small bruise already somewhat forming near Yang’s right eye.

“You know me too well Maria. Could my knight in shining armor stay? She’s the one who rescued me from a most horrible fate.” Yang recalled in a very silly scottish accent which made Blake giggle. 

“Fine by me. Although knowing Yang, I’m sure that the damsel in distress in this situation was Blake here, correct?” 

“Yang said it herself, she was ‘defending my honor’ or however she phrased it.” Blake said with a chuckle.

“How interesting...” Maria said with a conspiratorial smile. Yang left the room to use the restroom and Maria turned to her, a look on her face that told Blake that she was about to get teased too.

“You’re a lucky girl, Blake. Yang doesn’t usually go to those lengths to do a favor for someone else.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. The truth is, the only time she does that is when it’s for a girl that she likes.”

Blake’s cheeks flushed pink and she stared at the floor, refusing to acknowledge what Maria had said. 

“Don’t worry Blake, she’s a good kid. She might seem a bit rough around the edges but she’s just a big sweetheart.” Maria reached over to pat Blake on the back. Blake looked at her with a small smile and twiddled her fingers, waiting for Yang to return. She got back a few minutes later with an even bigger grin on her face than before. 

“The bathroom here is so much better than the one by the cafeteria.” Yang said with a laugh as she moved to sit back down on the nurse’s bed. Maria handed Yang the paperwork to get some painkillers and as she continued filling them out, a girl sprinted into the room rambling out way too many apologies. 

“Yang! I’m so sorry I was late, Mr. Port made me talk to him about my project. I’m so so so sorry I wanted to be here! You know that! I just-”

“Hey Rubes, it’s alright. I had a friend here with me. Blake, this is Ruby Rose.” Yang reassured the girl by gesturing over to Blake, who suddenly stood up.

“I should probably be on my way. I still have no idea where my next classes are.” Blake frantically rushed out of the room, walking through the halls to look for any face that she could recall so that she could be pointed in the right direction.

“Wait Blake! I-” Yang sighed as Blake basically ran out of the room in what looked to be fear. Yang didn’t see her for the rest of the day.

Blake couldn’t let herself get close to someone this soon or even at all, she knew the consequences of making friends and what it did to her. It always ended in bittersweet and angry goodbyes from two people who never should’ve met, and a lack of communication following after. Friends just brought Blake down, and she didn’t need anyone in her life to remind her that. Her life was one of constant gears turning, and never a dull moment. That’s what happens when your parents run such a prominent business in a large economy and they’re constantly adapting and making changes to your lifestyle because of it. 

The rest of the school day went on without a hitch. Blake went to the rest of her classes and took diligent notes on the upcoming curriculum. She already had two assignments to complete --even if they were ice breaker activities-- and had her planner set up in preparation for the work she was going to have to do. Being in advanced classes for a majority of her school years came with the knowledge that there was going to be a lot of work to complete on a regular basis, especially since she was now in high school which came with a larger number of classes and more strict teachers with more difficult lesson plans and higher expectations. 

The next morning, however, was extremely interesting. Blake sat down in the same desk she had yesterday for homeroom ten minutes early on the dot and pulled out the same book from yesterday, having gotten through a few more chapters the night before and eager to continue where she had left off. As students continued to enter the classroom and sit down by their friends to talk about whatever gossip or news was relevant that day, Blake continued to just read her book and was completely absorbed by it. That was, until one minute before the bell was supposed to ring to signal that class was starting, Blake heard something clunk onto the floor and a desk shifting to be behind her seat. 

Blake turned around only to be met with a grinning Yang, who sat down in her desk and waved cheekily at Blake. Whispers and murmurs could be heard from the other students as they questioned what Yang was doing there, who Blake was now finding out often skipped homeroom entirely as it wasn’t technically mandatory to attend if you found a logical reason around it. 

“Hello Ms. Xiao Long, lovely of you to join us. Are you still keeping up with your research?” Dr. Oobleck inquired, pacing back and forth just as he normally did.

“Of course Doctor O. That scholarship grant isn’t going to win itself. Plus, I could never miss out on an opportunity to have class with my dear friend Blake here.” Yang smiled, propping her feet up on the desk and leaning back on her chair, pulling out her phone presumably to text someone. This only alluded to more whispers, specifically at the fact that Yang had a so-called friend. Some students turned to face Blake with a look of pity as if Yang was a big problem, which Blake did not understand. All they had to do was get to know her and they would see that she was a great person and was only trying to stand up for people who were wrongfully targeted by the bullies of the school.

Blake ignored them and smiled back at Yang before returning to her book and reading it for the rest of class, Dr. Oobleck having made them aware that there was nothing on the agenda for today meaning they had a total 45 minutes free time. Yang spent her time doing nothing productive, sitting there on her phone and ignoring everyone else who tried to talk to her. She would’ve responded if it weren’t for the snarky comments she was being given. 

Blake felt sympathy for Yang but continued facing forward for the remainder of the period. She knew that she was already making a mistake by even interacting with Yang, but she couldn’t bring herself to completely disregard Yang’s existence, especially not with how rude everyone else was being towards her. Blake knew that she would come to regret it, but the way Yang had gazed at her with an innocence unmatched made Blake’s heart flutter, and she sat there smiling, trying to read her book while thinking about the fight from the day before and how quick Yang had been to jump to defend her without even knowing her. This only led to Blake remembering the comment that Nurse Maria had made about Yang only being so forthcoming for pretty girls, causing her ears to turn red as she tried to push it out of her thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next few days were more or less the same, Yang and Blake would say hello to each other in homeroom and then continue on their way to all of their other classes. Yang’s black eye had totally healed and she looked pretty as usual as much as Blake didn’t want to admit it. One day after school had ended, Blake was informed with a text message from her mother that she was going to be late. Because of this newfound information, Blake decided to aimlessly explore the rest of the school, having not had the time before due to too much schoolwork and always leaving right now after the final bell rang every day. 

After walking absentmindedly down several hallways and corridors, Blake came across a music room, complete with several instruments to use including a piano. Blake looked to make sure that no one was around and set her backpack down next to the piano bench, pulling it out and sitting on it after adjusting the placement of it in reference to the piano itself. She cracked her knuckles and began to play, a somber melody escaping the keys as her hands flew across the piano. She closed her eyes as she expressed how she was feeling through her fingertips that lightly pressed on the instrument in front of her. 

At this point she’d played the piece so many times that it was easily muscle memory. It helped her to clear her mind and process her emotions without having to discuss them with anyone else. It was the one thing she had that she could be proud of herself for being somewhat decent at it.

As she continued to breeze through the somber melody, Ruby just happened to be walking happily through the hallway when she stopped suddenly, heading in the direction of the music she was now hearing. Blake was too focused to notice Ruby standing in the doorway of the room listening, genuinely impressed by how much Blake was able to express through her playing and how serene she looked doing it. 

When Blake finally finished the piece and took a deep breath and opened her eyes, she was met with a look of pure admiration from Ruby, who had now rushed into the room and was complimenting her profusely.

“Wow Blake, that was amazing! What song was that? How long have you been playing? You’re so talented!” Ruby said gleefully, grinning at Blake and bouncing in place. Blake’s eyes widened at the sudden invasion of questions and sighed, smiling slightly to herself and standing up.

“Ruby, I wasn’t expecting anyone to be around. Thank you. It’s a nocturne by Chopin in C sharp minor. I’ve been playing since I was 5.” Blake explained as she twiddled with her fingers and sat down to play something else.

“That’s so cool! I haven’t met a piano player at this school yet, so this is exciting! Oh! Do you play any other genres besides classical?”

“I’m afraid not, I’m only classically trained.”

“That’s not a bad thing though! You’re really good!” Ruby said with a smile on her face.

“Do you have any plans after school? I just finished robotics club and I want to show you something!”

Blake stood back up and grabbed her scroll from her bag, noting that her parents were still not at the school yet. She sighed and put her backpack on, texting her parents that she was going to be hanging out with a friend, which got an immediate response of excitement from her mom as she had not tried to really hang out with a classmate like this in years unless it was for academic reasons. 

They exited the school together and Ruby made small talk with her the entire time; she seemed to have an unlimited amount of energy which Blake wished that she could have as well. But either way, Ruby had explained that they were going to a place that she liked to spend a lot of her time in when not at school.

~~~~~~~~~~

Blake stared at the small music store before her. It looked welcoming despite the unfamiliar territory of the entire town; however, Blake only had a short amount of time to gain her bearings because Ruby tugged on her arm and pulled her into the store. Inside were walls and shelves lined with records upon records from every era imaginable. Songs and albums ranged from ragtime to underwater space punk (whatever that meant). If someone was looking for anything music related, this was the place to go. It felt homey to Blake, and she totally understood why Ruby spent her time here even if it did seem out of character for Ruby. 

“Hi Dad!” Ruby exclaimed while hopping up onto the glass counter and swinging her legs back and forth. Well that explained a lot. Ruby didn’t really seem like the type to be really into music, at least music that wasn’t punk or alternative. Either way, Blake felt a bit anxious at the thought of meeting her new friend’s parent. 

“Heya kiddo! Hope you didn’t miss me too much.” Ruby’s father joked as he wrapped her in a hug and lifted her off the ground, which caused Ruby to squeal and laugh. After he set her down, Ruby gestured over to Blake, who shyly waved.

“Dad, this is Blake. She’s new at Beacon.”

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Rose.” Blake held her hand out for him to shake.

“It’s Xiao Long actually, but you can call me Tai. No need for the formalities, I’m more of a hugger.” Tai chuckled before wrapping his arms around Blake, who was surprised at first but soon relaxed into the embrace before he pulled away.

“Blake is a friend of Yang!” Ruby piped up excitedly while dancing in place to the music playing over the speakers. 

“Oh really? My little dragon made a friend? You must be special then.”

“Special? I...I don’t think so.” Blake stared at the floor while bowing her head slightly.

“Yang doesn’t make friends very often, and she definitely likes you!” Ruby grinned while skipping over to Blake’s side. 

“Oh...well thank you. Yang has been a great friend to me.” 

“Don’t thank me! Just let me show you something!” Before Blake could reply, Ruby was dragging her to the door behind the register. Ruby ripped it open and walked down the concrete stairs, the roar of crashing cymbals flooding her ears all at once. Blake followed soon behind her only to come into contact with the girl in question, executing a series of fills while playing drum set wildly. Blake’s gaze locked onto Yang’s intense playing until Yang finally looked up and her eyes widened in realization. 

“What is she doing here? You know I hate it when you invite random guests.” Yang asked while twirling a drumstick between her fingers and wiping the sweat from her brow. 

“Blake plays piano! I heard her playing in the music room at school yesterday.” Ruby explained while marching over to a nearby amp and switching it on. She pulled a black cover off of what appeared to be a standup bass and started plugging in cords from the bass to the amp. 

“Oh really? Play something then.” Yang challenged Blake with a dangerous smirk on her face. 

“I...I don’t know. I don’t really-”

“Don’t be shy! You’ll do great.” Ruby smiled while tuning her bass and plucking at the strings. Blake shook her head and sat down in the chair next to her, putting her face in her hands and sighing. 

“Well since the new girl won’t play something, I will.” Yang marched over to the piano and sat down, gazing over at Blake before starting to play. It was a very simple line that Yang attempted to play with her right hand, key word being attempted. The reality was that she completely butchered the entirety of it.

“That doesn’t sound right. Shouldn’t it be like this?” Blake moved to be beside Yang on the bench and played the melody by ear.

“No no no. It’s like this.” Yang played it again with a few mistakes here and there.

“But I played it correctly. How is it wrong?”

“You’re not using swing. It’s a playing style. See?” Yang plays it once more with a very apparent laid back feeling to it, something Blake is unable to replicate having never really done it before. It was totally out of her wheelhouse.

“Whatever. It’s all the same.”

“Okay smarty pants, if you’re so sure then play me something that you’re actually good at. Prove that you know what you’re talking about and maybe I’ll back down.”

Blake sighed and Yang stood up, standing next to the piano to see what Blake could do. Blake adjusted and moved to sit in the center of the piano bench, stretching her arms for a few moments before finally beginning to play. This time, the piece she played was at a much higher intensity than the one before it, lots of moving chords that jump back and forth across the keyboard. One could even describe the song as having circus inspired themes and tones. Not wanting to keep Ruby and Yang waiting too long, Blake skipped through a majority of the legato section of the piece to the high speed ending, adding in an extra cadenza with lots of flourishes and impressive octave jumps. When Blake hit the final ending notes, Yang stood at and slow clapped, smiling at her with a hint of deception in her tone.

“Impressive, new girl. What’s the name of that piece?” Yang asked with her arms crossed, an apparent smirk on her face that Blake couldn’t comprehend the reason for her having one right now.

“Hungarian Rhapsody Number 6, Liszt.” 

“Interesting.” Yang began to slowly approach Blake, and soon she was just inches away from her, their noses almost touching as Blake looked up at her in a nervous state.

“That was really good. But, I don’t see how this proves that you know how to swing.” Yang chuckled under her breath before placing her pointer finger under Blake’s chin and forcing her to look up at her. Blake tried to not stutter through her response and was luckily saved by a nearby Ruby who made a gagging sound.

“Ew gross! Don’t do your weird flirty stuff in front of me!” Ruby covered her eyes and faced the wall, and Yang laughed.

“Sorry sis, she was just too easy.” 

Blake scoffed and stared at the floor, too embarrassed by how red her face had become. It took a few moments but Blake realized what Yang had said.

“Wait, sister?”

“Oh, did I not tell you? Ruby is my sister.” Yang said while approaching said sister and bringing her into a noogie, which prompted several protestful shouts to come from Ruby’s mouth until Yang finally let her go. 

“Anyway, it’s our turn to play now, so sit back and relax and be blown away.” Yang said with a grin as she walked back to the drum set and grabbed her sticks, adjusting her drum throne and waiting for Ruby to give her the go ahead.

Yang grinned and kicked into an upbeat swing beat, alternating her accents on the ride cymbal and adding in snare fills as she went. Ruby joined in soon after with a walking bass line, which caught Blake’s attention as she stopped staring into her hands and became entranced with their musical abilities. The syncopation along with the flow and swing of it all was incredibly enticing to Blake. It was mesmerizing to see how easy it seemed to be for Yang and Ruby to groove together.

A handful of measures had passed when Ruby finally turned to look at Blake and smile at her.

“Come on Blake! We’re just goofing around. Play with us!”

Blake sighed as a small smile appeared on her face while she stood up and walked over to the piano. She sat down at the bench and cracked her knuckles before lightly resting her hands on the keys. As much as Blake wanted to join in, she also had never played this genre of music before. Classical piano was in a whole different wheelhouse than this spectacle. Another nod of approval from Ruby was what it took for Blake to finally play a chord on the piano, which Yang whooped at in response. This caused Blake to smile as she played a few more chords with uncertainty and tried to keep up.

“Let loose new girl! This is just for fun.” Yang shouted over her set playing. This allowed Blake to finally relax and chord along while the three of them continued to play for a while, making things up as they went. It was the first time that Blake was genuinely having fun since she moved to Vale.

~~~~~~~~~~

Blake walked upstairs after playing with Ruby and Yang for a few hours to see Taiyang tapping his fingers on the glass counter and humming to the song playing throughout the shop. He looked up and smiled at her after noticing her.

“Do you know what song Yang was trying to play on the piano?”

“Ah, most likely Moanin’. That’s literally the only thing she knows. Was she trying to teach it to you?”

“Sort of. I wanted to learn it so that I can prove that I’m good at jazz.”

“Hmm. Well if it helps, you can borrow the record for it if you would like.” Taiyang rummaged around the shelves behind him and pulled out the record she was looking for: Moanin’ by Art Blakey. Blake took it and tucked it under her arm, thanking Tai before leaving the shop to head home.

\---------------------------------------------------------


	3. Chapter 3

The next few weeks flew by super quickly. Blake and Yang continued to meet up after school at the record store, Blake unable to ignore her constant pull towards Yang. As much as she wanted to just stay in solitary and go home every day, the truth was that she’s having too much fun. As hard as it was to admit to herself, it really was _nice _to have friends for once, people who could count on her and like her for who she was. Blake hadn’t had that feeling of worth in years, at least not long enough or strong enough to make an impact.__

____

____

Yang was different; so lively yet empathetic, and a total goofball. Yang was the last person she would expect to be regarded as the school’s delinquent. From what she saw, Yang was a dependable person who just stood up for what she thought was right. And if it meant that violence was involved, then she would only go as far as defending herself. She was never the first one to throw a punch.

It was another day of playing jazz with Yang and Ruby when all of a sudden the door to the basement could be heard creaking open and a white haired girl with an instrument case was walking down the stairs.

“Mind if I jump in the next tune?”

“Weiss!”

Ruby immediately stopped playing and set down her bass and ran over to the girl once she reached the ground, wrapping her arms around her, which Weiss reciprocated reluctantly.

“Hi Ruby. I apologize for not being around as much. Father has a new possible business partner and wanted me to help with the deal.” Weiss finally set her instrument case down once Ruby let her go and smiled at Yang, who rushed over and gave Weiss a hug as well. 

“Ice Queen, good to see you.” Yang laughed as they separated and then gestured to Blake, who was genuinely surprised at Weiss’s upbringing which was similar to her own.

“Oh, and this is my friend, Blake. Blake, meet Weiss. She’s also a student at Beacon but she’s not around very often because of her dad’s big company.” Weiss raised her eyebrow at the word friend and walked over to Blake, shaking her hand lightly.

“It’s a pleasure. And what’s this I hear about Yang making a friend? Does she know about your history?”

“Of course she does! She actually saved me from a fight and that’s how we met.” Yang grinned sheepishly, her fingers scratching at the back of her neck.

“Are you really going to keep telling people that? She exaggerates every time. If anything, she really helped me out that day.” Blake said with a fake scoff, a small smile on her face as she gazed at the delinquent. 

“Oh? Interesting.” Weiss replied with a dignified stance, giving Yang a look of curiosity, knowing exactly what was going on.

“You down to play today Weiss?” Ruby asked, already having propped her bass back up and ready to jump into whatever chart would be next.

“Of course, why else would I bring Myrtenaster with me?” Weiss replied, nodding to the case on the ground. She picked it up and unclasped the locks on the side, opening up the lid to reveal a gorgeous silver trumpet and silver mute. She took the parts out of the case and assembled them, clearing the spit valve and breathing hot air into the horn to get the mute to twist in more smoothly. Weiss then walked over to be the center stage of the trio--near the mic stand behind her--and took a deep breath, launching into a smooth trumpet line in the melody while Ruby, Blake, and Yang joined in soon after with a medium tempo swing style groove. 

After chording along for a while, Blake launched into a piano solo and tested out her newfound abilities with chord changes and altered scales, getting a few cheers from Yang and Ruby, although Weiss just stood there and got a few blips on the trumpet, not saying anything else. Once Blake finished, Weiss took a turn to solo as well, her experience very evident in comparison to her own playing. It’s only a few choruses later that Blake watched in confusion as Weiss grabbed the microphone and stand from behind her and adjusted them, leaning slightly forward with a small smile on her face.

_Nights are long since you went away, I think about you all through the day_

A rather unexpected sultry singing voice came from Weiss as she launched into a singing melody from a Chet Baker song--she knew this because she heard it playing up in the record store a few days ago. Weiss sang through the song like it was the easiest thing she had ever done, and Blake was completely blown away with her skill not only in vocal jazz but trumpet playing too.

When the song ended, Blake immediately started clapping for Weiss, who turned and smiled at her.

“Wow, that was so amazing Weiss! How long are you free?” Ruby bombarded Weiss with questions and ran up to her to hug her again, which Weiss brushed off and cleared her spit valve once more. 

“Well that’s precisely why I’m here Ruby. How would the three of you like to play a gig tonight?”

~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours had passed and Blake was now in formal wear that she grabbed from her home, meeting up with Ruby, Weiss, and Yang at the gig venue. Weiss had been invited to play at a cocktail bar that night and her usual colleagues were too busy, hence Weiss asking Ruby and Yang to accompany her. Weiss hadn’t known Blake beforehand but was more than happy to have her join in with them as well. After all, the more the merrier right?

Blake was incredibly nervous. This was her first time playing jazz in front of an audience, other than Taiyang and Ruby whenever she was too tired to play. When Blake entered the bar, she was immediately greeted by a waitress ushering her over to the set up, the piano on the left hand side of the instruments while the drumset was on the right, the bass amp was in between the two and Weiss was front and center, already warming up quietly with some buzzing and scales and melodic lines. Blake sat down at the keys and played a few scales herself before sitting silently, waiting to see what Weiss directed for them to do next. They didn’t end up getting very far because Yang was greeted by a few familiar faces sitting in the audience.

“Hey there Fistcuffs, long time no see! What a coincidence for us to be here, we had absolutely no idea this would happen. What a *great* coincidence, truly.” Cinder said with a wicked grin, gesturing to Adam and another girl sitting with them who had pink and brown hair.

“Adam, Cinder. Neopolitan.” Yang narrowed her eyes at Neo who smirked and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms behind her back, not bothering to even reply.

“How did you even manage to get in here? Don’t they card people?” 

“Ever heard of a fake ID cupcake?” Adam chuckled and leaned forward, the smell of stale alcohol evident on his breath. 

“Oh really? You might not want to say that so loudly, someone might hear you.”

Cinder and Adam both look at each other and laugh. They set down their drinks and stared at Yang with an intensity that Blake despised.

“Good luck up there. Hope you don’t choke.”

“Like I need any luck from you.”

Yang turned around and moved to sit behind the drum set, Weiss cueing the four of them in to start their first tune, Yang starting out with an intense upbeat swing drum solo followed by Weiss playing the melody extremely fast. She then continued into a solo and eventually Yang and Weiss traded fours over the rapidly paced tune. They only got about one minute in before someone shouted at the top of their lungs for the group to stop, which caused them to come to a grinding halt while trying to figure out what the problem is. 

“Stop! Just stop! I hate this kind of music, it just sounds like a bunch of pointless noise.”

To no one’s surprise, it’s Adam that’s heckling them, Cinder joining in and causing a few patrons to start booing for no apparent reason. Yang threw her drumsticks to the side and started walking over to confront them on their behavior but Weiss stopped her, grabbing her shoulder and turning her back around. Blake stood up and grabbed Yang by the arm, pulling her into the storage room nearby and closing the door.

“Hey, don’t let them get to you. Their opinions mean nothing okay? I’m here for you.” Blake consoled Yang, placing a hand on her arm and smiling up at her. Yang sighed and brought Blake into a surprise embrace, causing Blake to squeak and relax into her arms, wrapping her own arms around Yang’s waist while Yang’s were lightly draped around Blake’s neck. They were standing oh so close together, their breaths mingling in the same air between them. Blake could practically feel the tension sparking between them. Without even realizing, both of them began to lean in--

Someone suddenly twisted at the doorknob and they both jumped back in surprise, Weiss standing outside the room. She sighed and stared at the two of them suspiciously before turning away.

“We need to get started or we won’t be getting paid. Are you alright Yang?” Weiss gave her a pointed look that screamed that she knew more than she was letting on.

“Yeah I’m good. Blake is the best at pep talks.” Yang responded with a nervous chuckle and they walked back to the stage, getting ready to play once again. Weiss had a different approach in mind for their next song, and the rest of the group let her take the lead. She wanted just her and Blake to play, which made Blake extremely nervous. She took a few deep breaths before launching into a chords sequence and bass line at the same time, waiting for Weiss to come in.

*They're writing songs of love, but not for me. A lucky star's above, but not for me*

The duo continued to play that song and glided through several choruses of soloing and comping, each of them elevating their playing off of one another. Eventually when they finished, surprisingly Adam and Cinder said nothing as the other bar patrons gave them applause. The rest of the set went much smoother. The whole group was able to play normally without any other complaints, Adam, Cinder, and Neo leaving the establishment after being ignored for their heckling. 

\---------------------------------------------------------


	4. Chapter 4

A few hours later, Blake and Yang were in Blake’s backyard, sipping smoothies and staring up at the stars. There was so much more that Blake wanted to know about her fellow delinquent turned best friend, but one thing continued to bother her as she continued to learn more and more about Yang. What had that kid Adam meant about Yang’s mom? It sounded deeply personal and incredibly rude for Adam to bring up. Either way, Blake knew that Yang would tell her when she was ready and that there was no pressure for her ever to say anything about it.

“Hey Yang? Could I ask you something?” 

“Go for it. I’m a pretty open book you know.” Yang smiled and winked as she looked at Blake curiously.

“How come Ruby plays bass?” Blake asked in between sips of her smoothie. Yang chuckled and put her arms behind her head as they continued to stare up at the stars.

“I was wondering when you’d ask that. She definitely doesn’t seem like the type, right?”

“Well...yeah. You’re right.” Blake admitted with a look of guilt plastered on her face, setting her smoothie down next to her and shutting her eyes tightly.

“Don’t worry, you’re not offending me or anything. It’s actually a long story. Summer, our mom, was originally the one who owned our store. Music was her entire life. She managed to balance running an entire business by herself and taking care of us with no problems. She really was our supermom.” Yang explained with a fond look on her face. 

“After Ruby was born, Summer started having health problems and we couldn't figure out why. By the time Ruby turned 5, she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Anyway, that’s beside the point. Our mom always used to say that bass was the most underrated instrument, especially since that was her first instrument. Ruby has always aspired to be like Summer. She started trying to play upright a few years later. Rubes wasn’t even tall enough to reach the frets at the time. Now she’s a mini superstar at playing and I couldn’t be more proud.”

“Wow Yang. That’s…”

“A lot? I know. If it’s too much then we don’t have to talk about it.” Yang smiled sadly while staring at her hands. 

“Of course it’s not. Your story is just as important as mine. Thank you for telling me this.” Blake turned her head to look at Yang, who smiled back at her. Yang broke the silence that passed between them by clearing her throat.

“I don’t know why you want to hear about my life so bad. It’s like you’re obsessed with me or something.” Yang said with a cheeky grin.

“Oh shut up.” Blake chuckled as she shoved Yang lightly, which prompted Yang to shove her back and laugh. 

“But really, thank you for being my friend.”

“Of course Blake. I’ll always have your back.” Yang said while turning to face towards the sky and saluting upwards. Yang then sat up and turned to face Blake, a look in her eyes that Blake couldn’t decipher. Blake gazed back into Yang’s eyes which caused her to blush at how intense Yang was looking back at her. Her cheeks flushed red as she channeled her stare towards the floor. 

Yang made her feel things that she didn’t think were possible. She had never felt this strongly about someone before, let alone in a non platonic way, and that scared Blake. What would her parents think? Scratch that, what was she doing? Falling for someone should have never happened, not with Blake’s track record of being unable to stick around. This was going to only end up hurting Blake in the long run.

If that was the case, then why did Blake’s heart still jump every time she saw Yang smile? Why did she laugh at Yang’s dumb puns way more than she should? Why did she look forward to spending more time with Yang? Why did it give her butterflies every time Yang’s lilac eyes would look at her in a way that actually meant something? Blake was too lost in her thoughts to notice how Yang shifted closer to her, now bringing her thumb to rest under Blake’s chin and moving it upward, forcing Blake to look at her.

“You know, I’ve never quite met someone like you. You’re so different. You’re incredibly smart, driven, and let’s not forget beautiful too. I’ve told you a lot about me, now what about you? You can talk to me, I’m your friend.” Yang smiled, looking the softest she had ever before. Blake smiled back, grabbing Yang’s hand and squeezing it in response.

“Well I’m an only child. My parents run a company for establishing nonprofit charities and so I’ve been moving around a lot since I was a kid. Music has always been something that spoke to me. It helps when I’m lonely I guess.” Blake admitted, forgetting to let go of Yang’s hand before it was way too late. Yang squeezed her hand back and gave her a look of understanding.

“I get it. I’ve always had trouble making friends. I’m always written off as a troublemaker before anyone can even get to know me.” Yang sighed, scooting closer to Blake and intertwining their fingers.

“Well what I can say is that after getting to know you, I think they’re totally wrong. You’re selfless, hardworking and dedicated to doing the right thing. People love to put us into boxes that don’t even fit us because of assumptions. I’ve always been the weird loner kid too.”

“At least we have each other, right?”

“Right. Yeah, of course.” Blake replied, a solemn look on her features. Yang immediately picked up on this and gave Blake a tender smile.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.” Yang’s precious smile said it all. She really did care about Blake as much as Blake wanted to pretend that this was just a temporary friendship. 

“How did you-”

“I just know.” Yang brought her hand up to caress Blake’s face, looking into her amber eyes. Yang could see that behind the beauty there was so much love and so much pain. How badly had Blake been hurt in the past? Yang was internally seething at the thought of someone causing Blake any sort of harm. 

“I care about you Blake, and I’m not leaving you no matter what.”

With that being said, Yang tilted her head and closed her eyes, leaning in…

“Hi Yang! Blake! Hope I’m not interrupting!” Ruby ran into the yard and squealed, looking on in confusion as Blake and Yang quickly jumped away from each other and Yang muttered a few curse words.

“Geez Ruby, you scared the crap out of us!” Yang sighed, getting up to help her sister with whatever she needed. Apparently she had just wanted to tell them not to stay up too late because they both had chemistry exams tomorrow. So much for timing. How many times could they get interrupted in one night? Maybe it was the universe telling them that they weren’t ready to take this step yet, but Yang knew how she felt. 

Blake hadn’t exactly been too open about how she was feeling, but there had to be at least something there. Unless Yang was reading the signals wrong, she was pretty sure that she had at least a small shot in winning Blake’s heart. It was going to be difficult, sure, but Yang loved a challenge. The most important thing was to make sure that Blake was okay with everything.

“I should probably get going. I have some homework to do.” Blake said, standing outside of the door to Yang and Ruby’s house and grabbing at her arm sheepishly.

“Alright, well I’ll see you tomorrow in homeroom. I had a great time today.” Yang said with a smile, leaning against the doorframe and winking. Blake blushed and stepped forward, hesitantly bringing her arms up and wrapping them around Yang. Yang hugged her back in surprise, her own ears and face turning red. When they pulled away, Blake giggled at Yang’s embarrassed way she stared at the ground. It was the most precious thing Yang had ever heard.

“See you Yang.”

Blake walked home with a giant smile on her face, thinking about Yang the entire way.

\---------------------------------------------------------


	5. Chapter 5

“Is something bothering you?” Blake asked, her and Yang sitting on the rooftop during lunch a few days later. Yang had a very telling expression that something was on her mind, but Blake couldn’t tell what it was.

“Well to be honest, my birth mother contacted me. She wants to meet.” 

“Your birth mother? But I thought-”

“Oh no, don’t get it twisted. Summer was my mom. She raised me. My birth mother, Raven, has never been around.” Yang explained, setting down her lunch and staring at the horizon.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I have no remorse for her. She...She put my dad through so much and I don’t understand how he can just _forgive _her. All she ever did was cause him pain, cause all of us pain. I don’t know if I have it in me to see her.” Yang sighed, grabbing at her hair and running her fingers through it, and Blake recognized the expression on her face all too well. She was angry and hurt and most of all feeling as if she had been betrayed. Blake placed her hand on Yang’s shoulder and tried to console her.__

____

____

“Hey, that’s totally fair. You’re allowed to be upset and mad, she deserves it. The only thing I can say is that as much as it hurts, you might end up regretting not going. I know how much this must be affecting you, but are you sure you won’t consider it?” Blake pleaded, trying to stay in neutral territory and not upset her friend. Yang tilted her head towards the ground and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

“No, you’re totally right. I have no idea if she’ll ever be around after this, I should go. Thank you for helping me with that, I really appreciate it. You’re a really great friend, you know that?”

Yang’s question surprised Blake. Is that what they were? Friends? That didn’t seem right. It felt like they were more than that, or at least that’s what Blake had thought until Yang said that one small question. This only affirmed that what Blake was feeling was wrong, and that she seriously needed to rethink her interactions with Yang. She immediately felt so much guilt sitting in the pit of her stomach for how she had taken advantage of Yang’s kindness for her own selfish gain.

Blake bit back a sob and smiled at Yang, feeling lucky just to have her in her life at all. 

“I know. You...You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

Yang smiled back at her and leaned her head on Blake’s shoulder. Blake’s back stiffened immediately at the innocent action.

“I’m gonna see her tomorrow. Meet me at the roof after?”

“Of course. Let me know how everything goes.” 

“I will! I’m glad that you gave me the confidence to go, I can tell you more about it afterwards.”

“I look forward to it.” Blake said with a smile. Yang sat up and grinned at Blake cheekily.

“Well of course you do, I’m the best after all.” Yang mockingly pointed at herself and winked, causing Blake to shove her slightly. Yang shoved her back and then they embraced, Blake breathing in Yang’s scent of lavender and firewood through her nostrils, relishing in the way Yang’s strong arms would wrap around her. They pulled away and gazed at each other fondly.

“I’ll see you later yeah?”

“See you later Yang.”

~~~~~~~~~~

It was the next day as the sunset was going down when Blake was pacing anxiously across the school roof, hoping that everything was going okay for Yang. Blake understood the pain of being left behind, her own parents were hardly ever around because of their intense careers and Blake was often left to take care of herself in a large empty house. As she waited for Yang to show up, she got a text from her parents saying that they wouldn’t be home tonight which was totally fine, she had planned to spend the night at Yang’s anyway. Blake perked up when she heard the metal door slam to enter the room and saw Yang.

She looked absolutely heartbroken. 

Blake rushed over to her and immediately pulled her into a hug, Yang tightly holding onto her like a lifeline and crying into her shoulder. Blake had never been so angry at someone in her life. How dare Raven hurt Yang? She worked so hard to be recognized for her talents and her own birth mother couldn’t be a decent human being for once. This unfiltered rage was held back though as what Yang really needed right now was a friend more than anything. Blake grabbed Yang’s hand and walked her over to the nearby bench, sitting down next to Yang and allowing her as much time as she needed to decompress and feel better. A while later and Yang was taking deep breaths, feeling much better than before despite being very upset.

“She’s still the same as she’s always been. Raven left right after I was born. A baby was never a part of her life's plan, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to stick around for one. All I wanted was to know why. Why she would do that to my dad. She didn’t give me a straight answer the entire time I was there. I don’t know why I thought things would be different.” Yang stuttered through her words as tears began to run down her face again. Blake wrapped her arms around Yang and Yang grabbed a bundle of Blake’s shirt in her hand, clinging to her like it was the only stable thing she had in her entire world.

“I’m so sorry Yang, you don’t deserve any of that. I’m here for you if you ever need anything at all okay? You’re my best friend.” 

“Blake, you’re more than my best friend, you know that right? I...really care about you.”

Blake gently placed her hands on the sides of Yang’s face, lightly wiping away her tears with her thumbs. Yang smiled at her with a look of pure adoration that made Blake’s heart flutter in her chest.

“I care about you too.”

“You know what Blake?”

“What is it?”

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

Blake gasped only to smile back at Yang with just as much tenderness as she was receiving. It wasn’t long until both of them were leaning in, Blake tilting her head as her and Yang’s lips finally touched, Blake continuing to cup Yang’s face while Yang placed one of her hands in Blake’s hair and the other around her waist. Butterflies erupted in Blake’s chest, her heart pounding in her ears as the world seemed to stop all at once. This wasn’t a first kiss; it was a reunion of two souls bound to be together for eternity. It had none of the normal awkwardness of a first kiss, to Blake it felt like coming home. The kiss was oh so tender, and Yang’s feelings were finally clear to Blake in that moment.

When Yang had gasped at Blake actually reciprocating the kiss, she couldn’t help but smile on Blake’s lips. Finally, this was what was meant to be. Blake had given so many mixed signals. It was so relieving to finally have some clarity about what was going on between them. It was such a beautiful moment too.

When they finally pulled away from each other, Blake rested her forehead against Yang’s, both of them breathing hard and staring into each other’s eyes.

“Woah.”

“Yeah. That was..intense.”

They both started to giggle and give each other a hug, connecting their lips once more. 

“You made me think that I was being crazy for liking you! All of that ‘you’re my best friend’ bullshit.” Yang laughed, causing Blake to blush bright red and stare at the ground.

“Oh shut up. You did the same thing!” Blake giggled, bopping her nose against Yang’s.

“We’re both big idiots huh?”

“We really are.”

“So…” Yang said after reluctantly breaking another kiss. “How long have you had feelings for me?” She asked in a genuine tone, caressing Blake’s cheek and smiling at her softly.

“I uh..well..I’m not exactly sure. Maybe after you got into that fight for me? But I wasn’t totally sure. I’ve never liked any girls before this so I can say that I was completely sure when we were performing at that gig. Playing with you is one of my favorite things.” Blake replied timidly as she began to blush an even deeper red. Really, Yang made Blake’s heart go on a rollercoaster ride, always going up and down over and over.

“That was pretty hot huh?” Yang joked, winking at Blake and pulling her even closer. “For me, I think it was the moment I laid my eyes on you. An intelligent mind with the beauty of a goddess, how could I not?” Yang rambled, her own face turning red, the blush traveling down to her neck and up to her ears.

“You’re the cutest.” Blake said with a smirk.

“Nah, stop that.” Yang blushed even deeper.

“Why should I? We both clearly have feelings for each other. Speaking of which, where do we go from here?” 

Yang stared at her lap after hearing Blake’s question before suddenly straightening, placing a hand gently on the side of Blake’s face and tracing her jawline.

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to be my girlfriend?” Yang questioned with a huge grin on her face, her hopefulness obvious just by looking into her now sparkling eyes.

“Of course Yang, I would love to.”

They met together for another searing kiss, this one much deeper and more emotional than all of the others combined. It felt so natural, like it was what they were meant to do for their entire lives. 

Blake was absolutely and utterly fucked.

\---------------------------------------------------------


	6. Chapter 6

“Talent show huh? That sounds like fun. Why don’t we sign up? We could unveil ourselves as the powerful jazz duo at Beacon Academy!” Yang rose her fist into the air, smiling triumphantly.

“I don’t know babe...I’m still a bit nervous to play in front of people. You know how I get with crowds.” Blake replied, intertwining her fingers with Yang’s and kissing her on the cheek. It was so nice to be open about her feelings. At this point in time however, Blake wasn’t ready to tell the whole school yet, so the two of them were only public about their relationship with Ruby and Taiyang (Ruby screaming so loud that Blake’s ears were ringing for a few hours, and Tai being super thrilled for the both of them) and any stolen moments they could get on the roof or away from school grounds. 

“Well it’s up to you. I have plenty of work to do for the grant anyway, so I’m happy either way.”

“Would it be okay if we skipped it this time?” Blake immediately flinched away, preparing for the worst.

“Aw sweetheart, of course that’s okay.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be? If my girlfriend doesn’t want to do it then we won’t. I’ll live, I promise.” Yang smiled, gently grabbing Blake’s face and leaning down to kiss her on the nose. Blake only sighed in relief and smiled, genuinely happy to have such an incredible girlfriend by her side. 

“Thank you Yang, you’re the best.”

“Of course, anything for you.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Blake had never felt so blindsided.

It was Monday morning and Blake had just happened to walk by the sign up list, only to see Yang’s name listed alongside Adam, Cinder, and Neo who were apparently doing some pop covers. At first, Blake was just confused. Had it been a joke played by Adam and Cinder? They loved to make people feel inferior. But if that was the case, then why was Yang’s name written in her own handwriting? 

This was a total betrayal, and made absolutely no sense. Things were going so well too; why did Yang have to turn out just like her last close friend? Turning on her in the long run in favor of the people who had been hurting her for ages. Blake needed an explanation. Immediately. Conveniently enough, it was lunchtime so Yang had all the time in the world to give her one.

_Rooftop, right now. It’s an emergency. ___

____

____

Blake received a reply a few seconds later.

_omw ___

____

____

Blake marched up to the top landing, only to find Ruby being cornered by the one and only Adam and Cinder, both of them laughing as they held something in the air where Ruby couldn’t reach it.

“Give it back! I’ve been working on that for weeks!” Ruby pleaded, shrunk down into the corner with nowhere to go.

“Psh, like I care. I need a project for Peach’s class, this will have to do won’t it?” Adam said, laughing along with Cinder who was smirking at Ruby. Ruby looked absolutely crushed.

“Hey! Leave her alone!”

Adam and Cinder whipped around and grinned as they saw Blake standing in a fighting stance, mocking the way she was trembling in place.

“Looks like the delinquent’s new friend has come to play. You think I’m scared of you? Think again princess.” Adam stalked closer to her with a disgusting smile, pushing her into the wall where Ruby was cowering, causing her to bang her shoulder on the metal frame of the door behind her. 

“Oh no, the princess is stuck. Guess you better wait for your knight in shining armor to come running for you huh?” Cinder said in a baby voice, Adam high fiving her and the two of them slowly moving closer to them.

“Blake, what do we do?” Ruby whispered, and Blake could see just how badly Ruby was shaking because of their threats.

“Don’t worry, I got this. Get ready to kick Goat Man in the shin when I tell you to.”

Ruby couldn’t help but giggle at Blake’s new nickname for Adam, it suited his devilish natures very well. 

“Now!”

Ruby launched forward and kneed Adam in the side (her aim was slightly off but it was still effective nonetheless) while Blake turned around and jimmied the key into the roof door. They barely managed to get it open in time while Adam groaned in pain and placed his hand weakly on his side.

“You’ll pay for that bitch!”

Adam lurched forward and Ruby barely managed to get out of the way of his fist flying forward. Blake wasn’t so lucky. She immediately stood to block the doorway to protect Ruby so that she could escape onto the roof away from danger. Blake stumbled backward as his fist connected with her jaw, limping backward to a nearby railing and slumping her back against it, spitting out blood as she panted heavily.

“You can do whatever you want to me, just don’t touch her.”

“Oh really? That is a very intriguing proposition, don’t you think Adam?” Cinder snarked, cracking her knuckles and walking towards Blake. 

“Get away from her!”

Yang was suddenly there, ripping off her dress shirt and tie to reveal a striped t-shirt underneath it. She immediately balled her hands into fists and Blake could swore that she saw Yang’s eyes burn bright red in the heat of the moment.

“Oh, it’s you. Your little friend decided to interrupt us so we needed to teach her a lesson.”

“I don’t care what the reason is, don’t ever lay a hand on her again.”

“Okay okay, we get it. Just don’t forget about practice on Friday night.”

Yang looked surprised at what they said, but her face hardened right after as she stared forward at nothing with her hands being stuffed into her pockets.

“I know.”

As if things couldn’t get any worse, now Blake knew for sure that Yang really was performing with those awful human beings. Adam and Cinder walked away while chatting presumably about some rumors and as soon as they were out of sight, Yang rushed over to her and began checking her for injuries.

“Are you hurt? Here, I have something you can--”

“Get away from me.”

Yang looked at her with extreme worry and concern.

“What?”

“I said get away from me!” Blake shoved her hands away and felt tears pricking at her eyes, her entire body shaking.

“Hey, it’s okay. I can take you to the nurse, you’ll be--”

“No. How could you Yang?”

“What did I do?!”

“Oh I don’t know, how about playing in the talent show with the exact same people who harass me every single day.” Blake clenched her fists and stood tall. Yang slightly backed away and waved her arms back and forth.

“Baby, it’s not what it looks like. I--”

“Spare me the dramatics. You hurt me Yang. Do you just expect me to forgive you for this?” 

“Blake, I swear there’s more to the story. I was doing it so that they would get off of your back. I wanted to protect you.”

“If you wanted to protect me so bad, where were you when Adam and Cinder took advantage of a completely defenseless student? I trusted you.”

“You can still trust me Blake. I’m so sorry for not being here sooner, I was looking for--”

“Ruby, right?”

Yang crossed her arms and took another step back.

“How did you know that?”

“Oh silly me, I must have forgotten to tell you.” Blake walked towards Yang until they were just inches apart, Blake seething in place with clenched teeth. “That defenseless student? It was your *sister*. I had to block them off while Ruby escaped through the emergency roof exit. What a great sister you are. I had to be there for her, when you couldn’t manage to waltz here any faster.”

“Hey, that’s not fair! I was trying to find her! How was I supposed to know that she was up here?”

“I don’t know, maybe the fact that Adam and Cinder pick on her any chance they get?”

Yang opened her mouth to protest but Blake put her hand up, silencing Yang.

“Listen. I can forgive you for being late, or not getting here soon enough. I don’t even care that you’re performing with those tyrants anymore. I just don’t get it. Why didn’t you tell me? Do you not trust me?” Blake said with a waver in her throat, the tears at the edges of her eyes finally spilling over all at once as Blake began to sob.

“I’m going home. See you around, Yang.”

Yang didn’t stop her when she turned and left the roof. She had really messed up big time. And Blake might never forgive her for it.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey.”

“Yo.”

That was all that Blake and Yang had said to each other in the past two weeks leading up to the talent show. Blake was still incredibly hurt by Yang’s actions, and Yang didn’t want to push her too far in fear of losing her completely. Today was the day though, maybe after this everything would be back to normal.

Yang was wearing her costume for the show, her striped shirt under a flannel shirt with ripped jeans. As attractive as Yang looked, there was no point in even thinking about it when Yang looked so glum. All of her usual spark that lit up a room was gone, the only thing left being despair. Blake felt guilty, sure, but Yang had really betrayed her trust. This wasn’t just going to be an easy fix; they needed to fully talk this out. Yet, right now Blake felt better not saying anything at all. She needed time. 

Homeroom was now over and Yang got up, pulling her bag over her shoulder and walking out of the classroom without a word, a solemn look on her face as she gazed at Blake for a few seconds before lowering her head.

“Don’t forget that the talent show is right now! Gather in the gym if you wish to watch it.” Dr. Oobleck shouted over the bell. The talent show was the absolute last place that Blake wanted to be, but in her fit of irritation she signed up as a volunteer to set up for the performers so unfortunately she had an obligation. Plus as little as Blake wanted to admit it, she was very curious as to how the cover band was going to sound. 

“Great, you’re here! Could you come help with the decorations?” Penny Polendina held her hand out for Blake to grab, which caused her to be pulled towards an assortment of cheap decorations that were meant to be hung up on the back stage wall. Blake sighed and began to absentmindedly help to hang things up until it was time. She walked back to the audience and sat in an empty chair, waiting for Yang’s group to perform. The first few groups were mediocre at best, nothing worth noting. 

“And now, we have Adam and The Rebels playing a cover of What Makes You Beautiful!”

Scattered applause could be heard across the gymnasium as the lights beamed into the stage to see Adam of course front and center with a cheap looking guitar and a microphone. Cinder was off to the left with another guitar. Neo was on the right with a bass guitar and Yang was in the back on her drum set that she somehow lugged to school. Yang clicked her sticks together and the band started, a very mediocre sound coming from the group. And then on top of that, Adam began singing into the mic, a very subpar singing voice that he was clearly only using to get clout around school. Why else would he pick such a well known boy band song? Yang was absentmindedly playing a very generic rock beat and occasional easy fills. She looked so incredibly bored.

They were just getting to the bridge when all of a sudden a large electrical shock could be heard and the lights were out completely. They must’ve oversurged the powerbox. 

“Can someone go check the powerbox?” Penny asked, trying to see in the darkness. 

Blake stumbled forward and tried to find her way backstage and was directed by other students to get there. When she stepped into the back area she was immediately ushered over to the left corner where several students were trying to figure out what happened to the power. They were clearly getting nowhere, and as time passed the students in the audience began to get restless, complaints of why nothing was happening getting louder and louder. Only a few more minutes passed until several of the students were now screaming. The volunteers were all frantically looking for someone to de-escalate the situation but no one knew what to do. Blake suddenly had an idea. She ran over to the right side right in front of the stage where an upright piano was placed and sat down at the bench, beginning to play.

There was no way for her to be nervous when she could barely even see anyone. Adam and his lackeys were nowhere to be found and someone had to step up. Blake played a flawless rendition of one of her favorite jazz standards, swinging every beat and giving it an incredible feel. Her chords were so colorful and filled with accidental after accidental, she really had improved so much. She continued to do this while executing a bass line as well. It wasn’t long until someone began to lightly hit the cymbals on the drum set and all of a sudden several student’s phone flashlights were on Blake and now the newly visible Yang, who was looking at Blake like she knew what she was doing. They began to build off of each other as they seamlessly transitioned into the next song, and damn they sounded good. 

Yang was executing ridiculously difficult fills with the toms and cymbals and Blake was even managing to add in some glisses and chromatic chord patterns. They played through an entire medley that day, the two of them smiling at each other as they kept going and going. When Blake finally pinged out the final note, the gym was overtaken by silence. Then, a sudden rupture of applause made Blake gasp. People actually liked it, they liked her. It was such a relief to not be hated. Yang threw her drumsticks offstage somewhere and jumped down off the stage, and before Blake could say anything, Yang was grabbing her hand and running with her out of the gym. They ran until they reached the roof and closed the door, doubling over in laughter and panting.

“Gods I missed this.” Yang said with a huge smile in between inhales of air.

“Me too. I’m so sorry for everything I said. You could never lose me.” Blake stood up and grabbed at her upper bicep, hoping with everything she had that Yang would forgive her.

“No, *I’m* sorry for not being upfront with you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Yang stepped closer to Blake and scooped her up into her arms, Blake squealing when Yang twirled her around in her safe embrace.

“You’re my everything, Blake. I like you so much.” Yang said as she set Blake down, still keeping her incredibly close and knocking their foreheads together.

“You’re mine too, baby. You mean so much to me.” Blake responded with a giggle, relishing in being able to just touch her girlfriend again. Being able to feel her arms, feel the tickle of her eyelashes on Blake’s cheeks, feel her soft hair by running her fingers through it. Blake missed this more than anything.

Yang wrapped her arms around Blake’s shoulder and brought her lips to Blake’s, pure adoration spilling between the seams. *This* was what coming home felt like, no matter how tough things had been Yang knew that Blake would never leave.

Or so she thought.

\---------------------------------------------------------


	7. Chapter 7

Blake returned home after that rollercoaster of a school day only to find her parents sitting at the kitchen table, clearly having been waiting for Blake to arrive home.

“Mom, Dad. You’re both home.”

“We both took the day off. We need to talk to you.”

Blake pulled out the nearest chair and sat down, a puzzled look on her face.

“Is something wrong?”

“Oh no, of course not. We just have some news.” Ghira and Kali looked at each other before continuing. “We finally got approved to extend our business to Menagerie.”

“Menagerie as in--”

“The Pacific island, yes. We’re moving out there tomorrow night.”

Blake’s jaw dropped.

“Tomorrow? Mom! That’s not enough time! I have people I can’t leave behind!”

Kali reached out and grabbed Blake’s hand, who only shook it away and crossed her arms.

“Why don’t you ever tell me these things sooner? I actually like it here. I have friends and a girlfriend, and people who actually _care _about me.” Ghira and Kali exchanged a look over the word girlfriend before Ghira sighed.__

____

____

“I’m so sorry, you know how this is. We have to leave right away. You have all of tomorrow to say your goodbyes.”

“I wish that you’d just go without me!”

Blake stood up and stormed out of the room, ignoring the looks of hurt from her parents and marched into her room, slamming the door shut. Immediately tears began to run down her face as her entire body shook with sobs. How was she ever going to tell Yang?

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Blake, how was--”

Yang gasped at Blake, who pulled Yang into a kiss, right in the middle of the hallway no less.

“Woah! What was that for?” Yang’s cheeks were dusted pink as she smiled down at her girlfriend.

“I thought that it was time people knew about us. No more hiding.”

“Are...Are you sure? If you’re not comfortable then--”

Blake kissed her again and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers and beginning to walk down the rest of the hall. 

“I’m ready.”

“Oh, hey Blake! You guys sounded splendid yesterday!” Penny clapped her hands until she finally looked down to see that her and Yang were holding hands. She looked between the two of them analytically before grinning brightly.

“You both make a great couple! I can totally see the chemistry.”

“Oh, thank you.” Blake replied shyly. “Come on Yang, let’s get to class.”

“Duty calls Penny. Thanks for the nice words, see you around!”

Yang and Blake continued to chat as they entered homeroom and sat at their desks.

“You’re so cute when you get nervous.”

“Oh shut up.”

“It’s true! Anyway, today’s weather was perfect. It was finally warm enough to take Bumblebee to school.”

“Oh? Why don’t you take me on a ride after school?”

“I would, but I have to drop Ruby off at Weiss’s place after school. They’re hanging out.” Yang said with a laugh, both of them completely aware of the true nature of Ruby and Weiss’s relationship. They continued to talk and talk throughout the class period, and Blake felt her guilt grow heavier and heavier in her stomach and lungs. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t ruin their last day together with sadness and goodbyes. 

~~~~~~~~~~

“What are your favorite things?”

“Huh?”

“Mine are playing drums, riding my motorcycle, and sunrises. What are yours?” Yang asked while leaning back on the bench. They were eating lunch and Blake was surprised by Yang’s question.”

“My favorite things?”

“Yeah!”

“Well to be honest, my favorite thing is playing jazz with you.” Blake said with a sad but fond smile.

“Wow, sap much? Come here baby.” Yang kissed Blake and Blake felt her eyes begin to tear up. Yang noticed this when they pulled away and Blake began to cry.

“Oh no sweetheart, it’s okay. I’m here.”

“I just wish that this moment would last forever.” Blake said between sobs and hiccups.

“Me too baby, me too.”

Blake clung onto Yang and kissed her like it was the last thing she would ever do. Even if she couldn’t put it into words, Blake hoped that that final kiss expressed all of her feelings for Yang to see. 

“I’ll see you at the shop okay?”

“Okay.”

Blake knew that she was going to see Yang after school, but it was not in the circumstances that she expected.

~~~~~~~~~~

“C’mon Rubes! We’ve got a journey to go on!” Yang shouted into her scroll, leaving Ruby a third voicemail that afternoon. Her sister finally ran out of the school ten minutes later with a giant smile on her face.

“Hey Yang! I’m so sorry for taking so long, Dr. Oobleck wanted to talk to me about our test grades.” Ruby explained as Yang brought her sister into a noogie and patted the seat for her to hop on the bike.

“And?”

“A plus of course!” Ruby said with an even bigger grin than before as Yang started the motorcycle and they sped away from the school, Ruby wrapping her arms around Yang’s waist and singing silly tunes the entire way.

“Hey Yang! Look at that cool car!” Ruby shouted into Yang’s ear. Yang tilted her head to look for the vehicle.

“Where is--”

“Look out!”

Yang never got to finish her sentence as she was thrown off of the motorcycle, her vision fading to black as she completely lost consciousness.

\---------------------------------------------------------


	8. Chapter 8

_Motorcycle accident...Both injured...Won’t wake up… ___

____

__

Blake paced back and forth in the hospital wing while digging her teeth into her lip, picking up on small bits of conversation being held between a few doctors. The low speaking voices were replaced with shuffling and a doctor finally cracked open the door, approaching her with a stern look on his face.

“How’s she doing?”

“Ruby should wake up by tomorrow. She got knocked out pretty good, but there were no substantial injuries.”

“And Yang?”

“She should be alright with some physical therapy.”

Blake breathed out a large sigh of relief at the doctor’s words and bit back the tears in her eyes, wiping at them quickly before smiling gratefully at the doctor.

“Doctor Polendina? Thank you for taking care of them.”

“It’s my pleasure. You can go and see her if you’d like.”

“Thank you so much.” Blake impulsively wrapped Pietro in a hug who laughed and patted her on the back before rolling away. Blake then sprinted over to the room, her eyes drifting up to see Ruby lying in the hospital bed completely unconscious, and Yang leaning over her and grasping Ruby’s hand limply while sitting in a chair next to her. Her focus immediately shifted over to Blake who was absolutely crushed by how defeated Yang looked.

“Yang, I’m so sorry.”

Yang said nothing as she turned to face Blake and walked over to her, Blake now aware of the present sling around Yang’s arm.

“Your arm, it-”

“It doesn’t matter. As long as Ruby’s safe, I don’t care.” Yang sighed and ran her hand through her disheveled hair, nodding for Blake to move to sit beside the bed with her. When Blake finally slumped down into the chair, Yang laid her head on Blake’s shoulder and tried to keep her tears at bay.

“She’s gonna be okay.”

“I know, but I was so _scared _Blake. It’s all my fault. Just because I wanted to-”__

____

__

“Shhh. Baby, it’s okay. None of this is your fault.”

“Yes it is!” Yang yelled as her eyes morphed red and her fist shook at her side. “All I had to do was pay attention to the road, but because I’m an idiot I-”

Blake cupped Yang’s face in her hand and kissed her softly, Yang reciprocating while beginning to cry.

“Everything will be okay, there’s nothing to worry about.” Blake said as she pulled Yang closer to her, relishing in her warmth and security.

“Promise?”

Blake jumped as her phone began to buzz over and over again, signaling that her time was up. 

“I promise.”

Blake walked out of that hospital room trying to hold back her tears until she reached her parents’ car parked outside of the hospital entrance. When they pulled away, Blake clawed at the car window and sobbed her eyes out, her heart forever broken by the promise she couldn’t keep.

Blake had never said goodbye, and she would come to regret that for the next several years.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Last call for Vale.” 

Blake grabbed her belongings and stuffed them into her backpack, throwing it over her shoulder and exiting the train. She wandered through the train station until she spotted her old friend Penny eagerly walking past a crowd of people. Blake approached her with a smile on her face  
and tapped her on the shoulder. Penny turned around and gasped in surprise.

“Blake! Oh it has been so long. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing great Penny. You seem to be doing alright.”

“I most certainly am. I’m waiting for my girlfriends to get here, we have a dinner date tonight.” Penny said with an innocent giggle as her cheeks turned slightly red. “Oh! And here they are now. Weiss! Ruby! Look who I found!” Penny hollered with a big grin.

“Ruby? Wait you mean-”

Ruby and Weiss stared at Blake open mouthed, Ruby dropping her partially eaten sandwich on the subway tiles and Weiss letting go of own partially eaten strawberry scone. 

“Blake!” Ruby squealed and ran over to her, tackling her to the ground and laughing in the process.

“Is this a group hug? Yay!” Penny exclaimed as she joined in on tackling Blake to the floor. When they finally picked themselves up off of the ground, Blake smiled at the three of them sweetly.

“It’s been so long. How are you all doing?”

“Pretty well, although someone seems to have forgotten to call us in the time she was gone.” Weiss rolled her eyes and grabbed Ruby’s hand once again.

Blake sheepishly grabbed her upper bicep and stared at the floor.

“You know it wasn’t intentional. I’ve been so busy with working and-”

“And what Blake? It’s been seven years. Time doesn’t just stop for you.”

“Okay yeah, you’re right. That wasn’t fair of me at all. I’m sorry.” Blake stated while slightly bowing her head, the sorrow evident in her eyes.

Ruby and Weiss exchanged a look before Weiss sighed.

“You’re forgiven. Now go see your soulmate for gods’ sake.”

“Soulmate? Yang is still here?”

“Yes you dimwit. Don’t you ever look at the news?” Weiss shoved her scroll into Blake’s hands and Blake immediately teared up at the sight of Yang smiling, surrounded by children who all seemed to love her.

“Weiss I-”

“No. No more time for apologies and rambling. You need to go to her.”

Blake sniffled as she wrapped Weiss in a tight hug before pulling away.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, just go get your girl. Oh and Blake?” 

Blake turned around and looked at Weiss quizzically.

“The glasses suit you.”

Blake chuckled and waved goodbye as she sprinted to where Yang supposedly worked, Signal Academy. When she finally got there, she was out of breath and the final school bells had just rang, signaling the end of the day and a rush of small children leaving the building. Blake waited for the stream of kids to part so she could enter the building and scanned the numerous hallways looking for a certain blonde haired individual. The last classroom she checked just so happened to be the one where Yang was teaching, Yang sitting at her desk and piling her students’ homework into her bag.

“Yang!”

Yang’s head snapped up to the doorway where she saw an out of breath Blake, smiling at her as tears rolled down her cheeks. She gasped at her and stood up, Blake rushing to her and the two of them hugging for what seemed to be hours on end.

“Blake, you’re really back. I never thought you’d come back.”

“Yang, I’m so sorry. I never meant to leave you like that. I missed you so much.” Blake replied with her head tucked into the brook of Yang’s neck, tears spilling onto Yang’s shirt.

“I missed you too.” They pulled away from each other and Yang looked her up and down with pure adoration.

“Wow Blake, you look great.”

“You do too. That side shave always suited you.” Blake said with a laugh.

“So, what do you say?” Yang gestured over to the drumset in the back of her classroom, and Blake grabbed her hand and pulled her over to it, sitting down at the nearby piano as the two of them began to play Moanin’, the song that started it all. The song ended and Blake met Yang in the middle, the two of them holding each other in their arms. Yang finally spoke up after a much needed moment of silence to process what had just transpired.

“Even after all these years, I never really changed. I was hoping and wishing that you would come back every single day. I never gave up.” Yang pulled Blake closer and brought their foreheads together, a signal of their promise to always be there for each other. 

“Blake, I never even got to tell you how I felt. I’ve always--”

Before Yang could get another word out, Blake wordlessly brought Yang into a tender kiss, their souls melding together as the world seemed to stop all that once. All the world was to them was each other, and nothing else mattered. When they finally pulled away, Blake grinned, slightly out of breath, as she stared into Yang’s lilac eyes.

“I love you.”

Yang looked at her in shock before gazing at her with the most love and adoration that Blake had ever seen. They kissed once again, fires rippling in Yang’s chest and butterflies exploding in Blake’s heart at the raw emotion being expressed in that one singular moment. With a smile on her face, Yang tucked a strand of hair behind Blake’s ear and intertwined their fingers.

“I love you too.”

\---------------------------------------------------------

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! special thanks to my best friend @Kuroshiro_kun for helping me through this and keeping me sane. i’d also like to give a special mention to the bumbleby big bang server, who helped give me the confidence to get back out there and keep writing. i wouldn’t have posted this if it weren’t for you guys <3
> 
> if you have any questions or comments you’d like to make, please leave a comment below. you can also follow me on tumblr @emocean-is-trash 😄 i appreciate all feedback and responses~ 💜💛


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